June 24, 2009

This demonstration developed by Dr Gili Mendel, shows how a software release and all it”s related assets can be managed using a definitive software library. In the scenario an existing Web application has been released and is deployed. The application displays user profile information. It utilizes an User Profile Service that returns the user information. A new version of the application is being developed to also provide the zip code information about a user’s address. Using Rational Asset Manager and it’s integrations with Rational Software Architect, Rational Team Concert and Build Management you will see:

1 The existing deployed v1 application that will be enhanced with a new service.

2. How an architect can find the software models, services, data models and other components that were used to build the deployed application.

3. How an architect can create a new version for the service models to address a requirement. How this model generates Service Specifications and automatically publishes the new models and services to RAM.

4. How the governance process of reviews must happen by stake holders before the developer, Build and release engineer / process can use this new versions of the service in the new application version.

5. How the developer uses and SCM process to manage multiple versions of the specification until it is ready to be published to the DSL/RAM as a new service specification.

6. How the developer uses reference’s to components and service specifications rather than copy binaries into his workspace, thus ensuring he is used the approved versions. How RAM can automate publishing assets like setting service name space attributes.

7. How the build process can only used approved versions of the assets and publishes back the ear implementation to RAM and automatically updates the asset relationships to manage dependencies. Including meta data about where the service is deployed. RAM controls permissions to assets, read and or download or publishing.

8. See the deployed application running and the updated DSL/RAM that shows all the updated asset relationships to reflect the new dependencies on the services. Much of this metadata is automatically set using the RAM integrations with the development tools.

This demonstration was recently given at the Rational Software Conference. To see the viewlet in a larger mode right mouse click on the viewlet and select zoom in. You can then pan by pressing the mouse on the viewlet and dragging the mouse around.

June 11, 2009

An article titled “Establishing and Populating a Definitive Software Library” was published in the The Rational Edge. This article you can “Learn how a Definitive Software Library can help bridge the gap between software delivery and operations in the context of software deployment, including the products that make up the solution and how they can be used together to reduce business risk and improve efficiency.”

June 5, 2009

We are working on the next version of Rational Asset Manager. Our last major release was Rational Asset Manager v7.1.1 at the end of Dec 2008. We will shortly be making a milestone beta release of our next major version available. We want to get both existing customer and new customer feedback. We are providing some key missing capabilities that customers have asked for around governing their assets. If you are interested in participating in this managed beta please send us an email at ratlbeta@us.ibm.com

We have limited space, so we will consider all candidates with the best fit for achieving our goals for the beta program. Please apply for the Beta Program. The minimum commitment requires you to install the milestone driver, use it for a few hours or more. Provide feedback on the scenarios we provide you. Feedback consists of attending 3 – one hour feedback and enablement meetings. We also ask that you complete a usability survey. In return you get to see the next release of the product before the general public does. You also get to influence what improvements we should make in the product for this release to improve the usability, quality and value of the product.

June 4, 2009

Business Processes are a very good example of an asset that needs to be shared by multiple roles across different organizations. Team members like developers, business analysts, support organizations and operations teams often need to understand what are the published business processes being used and how do they impact and relate to other assets in their organization. In this Developerworks article Murray Beaton and team describe how to configure and use WebSphere Business Modeler and Rational Asset Manager to create, publish, govern and share business process models.

June 3, 2009

Some very good sessions happened this week at Rational Software Conference. Al Zollar gave an excellent keynote presentation at the Rational Software Conference 2009. Al Zollar is the General Manager of IBM Tivoli. He explained how companies have to deliver smarter products using many kinds of assets. Assets that include Intellectual property assets, software assets and hardware assets. He describes how Rational and Tivoli solutions working together can provide comprehensive asset lifecyle and services across both development and operations. He described how Rational Asset Manager is a key part of delivering these assets and bridging software and operations. He describes how multiple products from Rational and Tivoli integrated with Rational Asset Manager to deliver this solution, including Tivoli CMDB.